A Bigger Splash

Luca Guadagnino's latest film A Bigger Splash is somewhat ambitious in what it is trying to achieve. Guadagnino is known for his sweeping dramas and this film does follow his usual style, but on a much smaller scale. However, he attempts to surprise audiences with a sharp right turn, which is something that I don't think works to the film's benefit.

Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) is a rock star taking some time off after undergoing throat surgery. She is relaxing on the Italian island of Pantelleria with her documentary filmmaker boyfriend Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) when she is intruded upon by old friend Harry (Ralph Fiennes). Harry has also dragged along his daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson). Soon Harry has imposed himself upon the couple and is causing tension as he wishes to start up an old relationship with Marianne, which angers Paul to no end.

Up until two-thirds through the way of this film I was entirely on board with what was going on. I really enjoyed the dramatic tension that was happening throughout. But then at the end of the second act, one of the main characters is killed off. I am totally okay with this too, but what I found was that I wasn't entirely convinced by the reason for why it happened and I felt as though there could have been other stronger ways that it could have been presented. This totally changed the whole dynamic of the film to a thriller, but one where the stakes weren't that high. As a result I wasn't really concerned for any of the characters and if they would get out of it unscathed. It did lead to a great revelation however, one that has some pretty nasty implications.

Guadagnino has written some fantastic characters that are portrayed superbly. Top of this list is Ralph Fiennes. While he has played some truly reprehensible characters (a crime boss, a sadistic Nazi, the Dark Lord), I found his character of Harry to be the worst he's ever played. He is the kind of person who you just want to punch if he ever turned up in your life. But the reason he is so good is because he is so incredibly charming and intoxicating to watch. Tilda Swinton has been a long time collaborator with Guadagnino and their working chemistry really shows. She is also stunning to watch because as she barely speaks in the film, all of her performance is done through her physicality. Matthias Schoenaerts' performance straddles a fine line between main and supporting because he doesn't have the screen presence of Fiennes, but at the same time he's very good and important to the story. I want to say Dakota Johnson is good, but she doesn't do very much. However, she gives a better performance than all her previous work combined.

Despite the strange turn in the film, A Bigger Splash is a fantastic drama that is heightened by its small, vibrant cast.

The Danish Girl

Tom Hooper has had a great run in recent years with The Kings Speech and Les Misérables. Ridley Scott jokingly described his films as ‘high brow’ in a recent director’s roundtable, and Hooper’s latest film The Danish Girl certainly touches on subject-matter that requires finesse. 

Set in 1920’s Copenhagen, an artistic couple Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander) and Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne) are achieving different levels of success. Einar’s landscapes are well-appreciated but the same can’t be said for Gerda’s portraits. Gerda tries to change that with a portrait of a ballet dancer (one of their friends), but when the model is late to show, Gerda asks Einar to stand in. Posing in tights and ballet shoes, the couple uncover Einar’s female alter-ego, Lili but the situation becomes challenging when Einar finds that Lili is closer to his real self than he first imagined. 

The Danish Girl definitely has its issues. For one, if you know the basic story of Lili Elbe then you basically know the movie, although reading up on her afterwards, it’s clear there are some details that have been changed. It would also be unfair of me to pick on its lack of dramatic intrigue, as that’s more of an issue that keeps cropping up in the format of these straightforward biopics, nonetheless even for somebody going in blind, it’s very clear where the story is taking you. Although it strides its two hour run-time with ease, The Danish Girl also has some jarring pacing problems, particularly when Lili undergoes her various sex-reassignment surgeries and time skips around with a lack of clarity. It’s unlikely that you’ll get bored at any point but the timing issues do stand out like a sore-thumb. 

Where The Danish Girl does succeed is in building its characters. Hooper manages to pack in a lot whilst also covering a huge array of content, thanks to actors that make the most of their performances. Alicia Vikander is mostly great as Gerda, although doesn’t trump her performance in Ex Machina - not that that’s a fair comparison of characters - and at points she seems to only be drawing on binary emotional states of jealous anger and guilt-ridden sadness. Eddie Redmayne once again provides a chameleonic performance - perhaps even equal to his bout as Hawking - and through his transformation, justifies the use of a non-trans actor. Although I guess we’ll never really know how well a transgender actor could have handled the character. 

The construction of the film, from score, to cinematography, to editing is very similar to a lot of the ‘straightforward biopics’ we’ve seen in recent years such as The Theory of Everything and Imitation Game, which makes it difficult to set each one’s aesthetics apart from others. However The Danish Girl does construct interesting and varied examples of mise en-scène, particularly the Copenhagen exteriors. Like Carol, The Danish Girl forms its 1920s era with subtlety - not shoving objects, people and events into the story as a glorified timestamp - however certain elements like the at times drab colour palette and their empty apartments creates a gloomy atmosphere which doesn’t necessarily match the overall tone of the film.

The Danish Girl is well acted - especially by Redmayne once again - and packs a lot of story-telling into two hours, albeit with a sometimes staggered pace. The narrative is always interesting, but it’s never unanticipated, and you can’t shake the feeling that the film is big-noting itself as much more influential than it ultimately is.

Far From the Madding Crowd

Thomas Vinterberg's last film The Hunt (Jagten) was a nuanced, dark drama about a man whose life was thrown into turmoil thanks to social preconceptions. His latest film Far From the Madding Crowd is his take on the classic Thomas Hardy novel about an independent woman who refuses to abide to the social normalities assigned to her as a female.

Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) is an independent woman working on a small farm in Victorian England. She befriends a Shepard, Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) who swiftly proposes to her, but Ms. Everdene is not looking for a husband. After his young sheep dog viciously drives his herd off a cliff and to their deaths, Gabriel is forced to take a job at a once great farm. It turns out that this farm was owned by Bathsheba's uncle, who has left it to her in his will. Ms. Everdene runs the farm with efficiency, ambitious to return it to its former glory. The neighbouring farm is run by Mr. Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a mature bachelor who is eventually also drawn to Ms. Everdene. A young, seemingly-jilted soldier, Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge) takes up residence as a farm-hand and becomes the third suitor to Bathsheba. With three men willing to become her husband and conflicting personal values, Ms. Everdene ultimately has to make a choice between the three, or for independence.

I'm not normally drawn to costume dramas, but Far From the Madding Crowd floored me with its strong plot and well-developed characters, Bathsheba in particular. But what makes a strong female lead? Or for that matter, a strong male lead? A rejection of the necessities of masculinity would certainly create a burgeoning male and to that end, Ms. Everdene's dismissal of the social requisite to acquire a man makes her an independent, ultimately well-rounded female character. But these traits are rooted in Hardy's novel and ultimately it takes Carey Mulligan's refined abilities to bring Bathsheba to life. She's determined, yet flawed and whilst her values are central to her development, she acknowledges her personal betrayals when she dares to wear her heart on her sleeve. All of this remains exquisitely detailed through Mulligan's performance. 

Similarly, Gabriel - played by the ever talented Matthias Schoenaerts - is not concerned with achieving a status supposedly appropriate to his gender, but still sees Bathsheba as vulnerable and requiring of his protection, despite her constantly proving him wrong. Ultimately for me, he and Mr. Boldwood - played by Michael Sheen as stern yet emotionally vulnerable - tie as suitable companions for Ms. Everdene, but her drive for independence trumps any desire in the audience to see their romantic relationships develop. On the other hand, Sergeant Troy comes off as a supremely unlikable character, driven by the arrogance of youth and little more than an abusive male, despite his past hardships. I understand that the final act is much more developed in the novel, but I doubt that a longer running time for the sake of a fully-fledged denouement would ultimately pay off.

The look of Far From the Madding Crowd is hardly revolutionary filmmaking. Vinterberg once again works with Charlotte Bruus Christensen who shot The Hunt and the visual similarities are noticeable. The rural setting makes for some beautiful scenery, but my only reservation is with some questionable camera movements which distract from the story, namely several dramatic zooms which I'm sure hold artistic meaning but are nonetheless jarring. The overall composition is relatively fast-paced - within about ten minutes we already have sheep diving off cliffs to meet with a brutal bloody end - which would certainly help those who, like me find it difficult to dive into period pieces.

Thomas Vinterberg has formed a distinct adaptation of the original text, which ultimately captures Hardy's memorable characters and social reflections in an enthralling format. Far From the Madding Crowd is not his greatest film, but it's certainly worthy of your viewing.

A Little Chaos

You've gotta love Alan Rickman. I mean, who doesn't like Alan Rickman? Well, now Alan Rickman has directed his second feature A Little Chaos, written by (in part) Alan Rickman and starring, among others Alan Rickman. Alan Rickman.

The King of France, Louis XIV (Alan Rickman) is making extensive changes to the Palace of Versailles, including a huge landscaping plan to vastly improve the palace gardens. Louis has put André Le Nôtre (Matthias Schoenaerts), a man that is very much following in his father's footsteps, in charge of the project, with several other designers competing to supplement his designs. One such landscaper is Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet), who dismisses the structured approach of Nôtre in favour of a more chaotic design. Nôtre rejects her plans at first, but soon he decides that a little chaos could be exactly what the palace gardens require.

There have been a lot of period pieces set in both pre and post-revolutionary France, often  large in scale and covering years, if not decades of history. A Little Chaos on the other hand is about a relatively insignificant, yet still beautiful construction in the gardens of Versailles, and its narrow scope is refreshing. The world is a microcosm of the era, with not only the male-led hierarchy an indictment of its time but a subtle dichotomy between the beauty of the garden projects and the diseases and suffering that was occurring at the time. A point which is hardly touched upon until the final stages of the film, where it's laboured just a bit too much in one scene. There's also a back story for Sabine which is revealed slowly in flashbacks throughout the film, a structure which I found a bit irritating with ultimately, not much of a pay off. 

The plot is well rounded, with a good balance of character development and well..uh landscaping. I have no real idea how historically accurate it is, I know that the outdoor ballroom exists at Versailles but nothing about its construction. However I personally found it very interesting and liked the specificity of the story. For those who like the sweeping historical epics though, this may not appeal. Sitting at just under two hours, I did feel that it could probably have been cut down to ninety minutes. It's not excessively slow but I did find myself looking at the time at a couple of points. It develops at quite a good pace but towards the end it felt like it was trying to tie-up a whole lot of loose ends from diverging plot structures that probably didn't need to exist in the first place. 

The acting all round is fantastic. Kate Winslet is always able to draw empathy from the audience and playing Sabine is no exception. The trauma that Sabine's experienced in her past may not work very well in furthering the plot, but she's clearly a passionate and driven woman. Also it's nice not to see Winslet bare all on the screen again...well sort of...there is a very PG-13 sex scene. Matthias Schoenaerts, as the only character with anything resembling a French accent, brings some mystery to André Le Nôtre, and Alan Rickman proves his worth as a character actor, bringing out the eccentricities of Louis XIV whether they were historically there or not, that's right, he Rickmanizes (If it's not a word, it should be) Louis XIV. One scene in particular, a conversation in an enclosed garden between Sabine and Louis, elevates Louis' personality immensely.

The visuals are very impressive, especially the sweeping landscape shots, and the set design and costuming has the flare of such a powerful aristocracy. There's a sway towards simplistic montages in A Little Chaos but they don't ever become too tedious. A Little Chaos has flaws, but it's charming nonetheless. It's well written and has great performances. Also, don't forget Alan Rickman.

The Drop

The film industry is certainly in love with crime...uh, crime movies that is, with far too many gritty scripts launching themselves at the genre from all angles, yet never really differentiating themselves from the last. So how about the latest instalment, Michaël R. Roskam's The Drop? With the late James Gandolfini in a lead role, displaying his criminal-acting prowess for the last time, I was certainly keen to find out.

Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy) works as a bartender in his cousin Marv's (James Gandolfini) bar. Once owned by Marv, but purchased by Chechen criminals, the bar operates as a front for money-laundering, having packages dropped off regularly. Whilst Bob and Marv try to stay out of the underhand business, the bar proves to be trouble for the cousins, beginning with an armed robbery that leaves the pair in debt to their Chechen employers.

Meanwhile, whilst walking home one evening, Bob finds an injured pit-bull abandoned in a bin and is helped by Nadia (Noomi Rapace), who owns the house, to nurse it back to health. Bob agrees to take the dog and names it Rocco, which is fine, until the dogs owner comes looking for Bob.

I have to admit, I became rapidly disinterested with this rather simple, yet still somewhat far-fetched plot. It's not like The Drop is particularly similar to most crime films, but it doesn't really bring much new to the genre either. There were some funny moments here and there, but generally I found that it just progressed a bit too slowly for my liking.

Tom Hardy continues to prove that he's an adept and talented actor, especially with his previous film Locke, and he's certainly great here too, albeit with a sometimes questionable Brooklyn accent. James Gandolfini also gives a strong final performance, though I found it difficult to imagine him as anybody other than Tony Soprano. Rapace wasn't bad as Nadia, though she could have probably been developed more as a character, and other than that, almost all of the supporting roles play idiots.

Continuing the trend of dark, gritty crime films, The Drop has a dull colour pallet, that envisages Brooklyn as one of the most dreary places on earth. The interesting use of camera angles and tracking shots in some of the montage sequences were refreshing, but generally The Drop doesn't have anything new to offer in the image department.

With strong performances from Hardy and Gandolfini, and some visually compelling sequences, The Drop is far from a bad film. There are plenty of interesting plot elements that differentiate it from the average crime feature, but its slow pace failed to keep me particularly interested.